Fellow Aspirants!
One year ago today, I released We Who Are About To Die into Early Access.
I almost can't believe it. At the time, I was a complete mess - years of work and total uncertainty. One "release button" between me and the scenario I had been both fantasising about and dreading for so long. To say things went well, is an understatement. My life has completely changed.
The last year has been incredible - I took a much needed break, went to GDC and Gamescom for the first time, met dozens of local and international game devs, learned an unbelievable amount of new stuff (fast), and most importantly: the team expanded - 3 core members and 10+ contractors have worked on the game in the last year! - We've released several updates including a major update
To celebrate the anniversary, v0.25, a continuation of the Combat Controls Update is out now!
The game is also 25% off to celebrate, so its a great time to share it around.
Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart for your support and enthusiasm for this weird gladiator game.
Newsletter!
We are already full force planning & working on the next Major Update - there are many exciting things to come for both WWAATD and future projects for many years to come. We're starting a newsletter where we will inform you of any massive updates, game studio developments and new games we might be making.
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Anniversary Update - WWAATD EA v0.25
Full Changelog
This update is a continuation of the Combat Controls Update. It focuses on combat responsiveness, stability, physics tweaking, UI and QoL improvements.
Changes and additions
MAJOR
- New map variation: Lion's Roar
- New Godly 1h Axe: Vultura
- New Godly 1h Mace: Maladorn
- New Godly Spear: Imperius
- New Godly Shield: Lion’s Echo
- New Godly Polearm: Thundaka
- New Godly Armor: Exalted Helm
- New Godly Armor: Exalted Armplates
- New Godly Armor: Exalted Legplates
- Added updated blocking system for melee weapons in Third Person Mode
- Updated attack animations across the board
MINOR
- Audience is more dynamic and rotates towards the action
- Audience is more responsive to player’s cheers after winning a fight
- Added new character graphics and code LOD system (performance boost)
- Added audience framerate LODs (performance boost)
- Made sideways character movement in the entrance sequence less sensitive
Combat changes
- Attack animations and body mechanics have been tweaked to improve attack telegraphing and increase attack consistency. Attacks will now be directed slightly more towards the center of the screen
- Changing attack direction mid-animation now requires a larger countermovement in Third Person Mode
- Improved combat walking animation
Balance changes
- Max stamina reduction caused by your health only starts to apply once your health drops below 60% (down from 100%)
- Attack speed is lowered once your stamina drops below 80% (down from 100%)
- Executor now has a higher max stamina
- AI characters now attempt to move closer to the player to account for weapons with less range
- Throwing attacks have a much higher chance to disarm shields
- Melee attacks have a slightly higher chance to disarm shields
- Slightly increased stun durations on shield bash and kick
- Shield bash stun duration is now scaled by shield size and skill as well.
- Slightly increased throwing timing window for spears
UI Changes
- Added a weapon flash/glow when the attack is fully readied (quick flicks do less damage)
- Added a lock icon and animation to indicate when the player's attack direction has been locked
- The “damage cross” icon from Classic Mode is now also present in Third Person Mode
- Added blocking cursor icon UI in Third Person Mode
- The BattleMenu has been restructured and has Widescreen support now (in theory)
- Heirloom auxiliary slot tag now shows up as "INVALID" when the item in it is too rare
- Stamina bar now clearly shows the "low stamina" threshold
- Stamina bar now displays the max stamina reduction caused by events and training
- Combat tips are now also shown on loading screens
- Added character name to victory screen
- Game Options have been restructured to improve clarity
- Rank progression bar has been made lighter
Bugfixes
- Fixed the issue where the game didn't register the "any key" press at the start
- Fixed some resolution issues on the Battle Menu
- Fixed an exploit where you could infinitely trigger "investment" by going to the main menu and back
- Fixed an issue where the Thrill Seeker Civilian fee would be applied every time you loaded your game, regardless of whether it was already paid
- Fixed an issue where "Reset To Defaults" in Game Options would only reset certain options
- Fixed an issue where kicks would not correctly cause knockbacks
- Fixed light errors on Lion's Roar
- Battle gold rewards now include gains from bets
- Fixed an issue where Patron Favour display would not be updated after bribery
- Invert y-axis setting now doesn't reset on load
- Reduced the amount of situations where your spear would be flipped
- "Cheer" now works on controller
- Various minor audience fixes and tweaks
- Gold and fame rewards are now saved when exiting the game mid-battle
- The training gear to pay is now saved when exiting the game mid-battle
- Fixed some issues where controller wouldn't navigate the UI correctly
- Fixed an issue where you could reveal battle option info over and over on gamepad
- Fixed an issue where you could select and activate locked battle option
- Fixed an issue where the time statistics would be displayed incorrectly
- Fixed many small UI bugs
- Many many more.... as usual
As usual there is definitely tons we missed, go check it out for yourself!
Thank you again, and let me know your thoughts in a comment.
As always - we who are about to die salute you,
Jordy
